• Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data.

New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.

• Scientific explanations must adhere to criteria such as: a proposed explanation must be logically consistent; it must abide by the rules of evidence; it must be open to questions and possible modification; and it must be based on historical and current scientific knowledge.

• Results of scientific inquiry — new knowledge and methods — emerge from different types of investigations and public communication among scientists.

In communicating and defending the results of scientific inquiry, arguments must be logical and demonstrate connections between natural phenomena, investigations, and the historical body of scientific knowledge. In addition, the methods and procedures that scientists used to obtain evidence must be clearly reported to enhance opportunities for further investigation.

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Citation Manager

"Appendix A Excerpts from the National Science Education Standards."
Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2000.